Mitchell Report: The Day After

December 15, 2007

Denials no surprise: George Mitchell insisted naming names was the right decision and he told The Associated Press on Friday that he was prepared for Roger Clemens and others to deny they used performance-enhancing drugs.

"We made every effort to establish the truthfulness of the information that we received," said Mitchell, whose 409-page report on baseball's problem with performance-enhancing drugs was released Thursday, and named 85 current and former players linked to steroids. "Several of the witnesses were interviewed in the presence of federal law enforcement agents who informed the witnesses that if they made false statements they would subject themselves to possible criminal jeopardy. So there was very strong incentive to tell the truth."

Clemens' lawyer vehemently denied the accusations.

"If someone makes one purchase and says he didn't use it, that's one thing," Mitchell said. "If someone makes three, four, five, six, seven purchases over a period of several months or years, it obviously raises the question: If you weren't using it, why were you continuing to buy it?"

Rocket fallout: The Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association may rescind its invitation to Clemens to speak at the organization's state convention Jan. 12 because of the Mitchell revelations. The title of Clemens' speech was to be, "My Vigorous Workout, How I Played So Long."

Santangelo: Yes and no: Former major leaguer F.P. Santangelo, now a morning radio host in Sacramento, Calif., said that he took human growth hormone, as the Mitchell Report said. But he denied using Deca-Durabolin, an anabolic steroid, and testosterone, despite the Mitchell Report findings. "I did growth hormones," said the .245 career hitter who played parts of seven seasons in the majors (1995-2001). "I was at a point of my career when I took it twice because I panicked. I didn't want my career to end."